Random thoughts from a Brit in the North West. Sometimes serious, sometimes not. Quite often curmudgeonly.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Down into Portugal this morning, to North West Iberia’s only true international airport, outside Oporto. This was to pick up an old friend, who’d sadly chosen the first really dull and wet day in weeks on which to arrive. Perhaps autumn has finally reached this part of Spain, after our Indian summer.

And then to Braga, to take another look at the cathedral there. This city may or may not have been - many centuries ago - the capital of northern Lusitania. Some say it was and others say it wasn’t. But a couple of things are indisputable. Firstly, it’s now in Portugal. And, secondly, several – if not most – of those who Ms Meakin regards as the stars of Galicia’s First Golden Age in the 4th century were associated with this city. Of course, at that time Galicia’s southern border lay further south than it does now. Hence their inclusion in her pantheon of Galician fame. Though, I think the Portuguese lay claim to some of them.

And then to the lovely town of Ponte de Lima, for a marvellous lunch of grilled trout and vinho verde. In a restaurant where there was no TV on the wall and no screaming kids running around. So you didn’t have to contribute to the cacophony by shouting your part of the lunchtime dialogue. I probably don’t need to mention that this town is also in Portugal.

Speaking of Ms Meakin . . . Readers Ferrolano and Ointe have kindly pointed out that one can download - from here – a PDF version of her book containing the photos I mentioned yesterday.

29 comments:

Mr Davies, not only are you more arrogant that what I thought you are, but also more stupid. You are a very stubborn person, aren’t you, is that a scousy tract?

Look: refering to Bracara Augusta as the capital of “Northern Lusitania“ is as dumb as the American that refers to the Açores as “a petrol station in the middle of the Atlantic or may be not“. Are the Açores a petrol station in the Atlantic? Well, yes, for the American army or navy. I told you to revise your history, but you are very clever, aren’t you.

Anyway, I think it be very interesting you tell us something about “Northern Lusitania“. What part of Iberia was that? What kind of people lived there and, more importantly, why did it vanished for ever from any map? Oh yes, and tell us also about “Southern Lusitania“. (I assume that if there is a Northern one it has surely to be a Southern one)

gluteus, I thought your thing was the MOT, why don’t you leave the scholarship to the scholars? The question was for Dr Colin Davies, on his claim about the Ancient Kingdom of Northern Lusitania, which may have been behind the building of the Egiptian pyramids, or anything that may make Galician nationalists look silly.

Cade. No that was rusty pin who obviously has made a great impression on you. He was right. You are suffering withdrawal symptons. And by the way he told you he calibrates the testing equipment which is a highly skilled job. He doesn't crawl under cars doing the MOT. PLEASE try to understand what you read. And thanks for taking the time to thank me for all my efforts.

Happy to see there are more believers in the Northern Lusitania Pharaonic Kingdom conspiracy theory!

Dr Colin Davies is very busy at the moment collating his last findings, so perhaps you could brief us on the awful plight that befell this long vanished highly developed culture, leaving hardly any trace, the few remaining traces of their civilization being hidden or vandalised by the fanatic Galician nationalists and their northern portuguese allies!

jokes apart, I know you don’t believe in that kind of North Lusitania fantasy. However, Mr Davies does, he may be that stupid. Or perhaps he is not stupid at all, and he knows what he is writing. Anyway, if I went on a short visit to the Azores, just to give an example, the last thing in my priority of facts to write about it would be them being "a petrol station in the middle of the Atlantic or may be not". I would find 100 relevant things to write something about this part of the world, even if a XIX century woman mentioned that fact in a book.

But again, if I had an agenda, or just an inclination, in terms of protraying the good and the bad, and I had a grudge against the azorians, then I would refer to that petrol station in the ocean in the first place. That would get them mad, if they knew about it! Which would be, of course, what I wanted: making them look mad, to show how everybody bad they are.

Look, you moron, I’m not interested in the least about your private life, I don’t need to know how highly or lowly skilled your work is or what TV programs you watch with your wife or your dog. Nobody asked you to take part in this debate so just bugger off right. I was talking to Mr Davies before the idiots like you came “to the rescue of this badly savaged poor chap“ and distort the issue. Don’t even think of answering to any of my comments, you are non-existent here. Chop chop

In 1807 Napoleon signed the Treaty of Fontainbleu with Spain and proposed that Portugal would be divided into different states.1. Kingdom of Northern Lusitania between the rivers Douro and Minho including Porto and Braga.2.Portugal reduced to an area between the Douro and Tagus to be ruled by France.3.The Spanish Duke Manuel de Godoy would rule the Algarves.So there is another nut case who had ideas about a non existant Northern Lusitania and was going to make one. Try and stop me big boy!

I'm sorry but I do think you have been labouring under a misapprehension. You see, I'm sure that, if you check, you will find that our friend, Mr Davies, wrote 'northern Lusitania' and not 'Northern Lusitania'. Which, as I have pointed out, are two very different constructs and concepts. In English, if not in your languages. If this is true, it would mean that it's you, not him, who is responsible for inventing the province or kingdom of Northern Lusitania.

I can understand why you find this hard to accept as it means that you have wasted all that sound and energy on doing wthat Mr Davies accused you of - creating a straw target and then attacking it. Or, I suppose, tilting at windmills like your charming but insane countryman, Don Quixote. Several of his other accusations about you would also ring true and you would look rather silly for constantly stressing you have written 20 or 30 messages asking him to explain something he never did.

It would also mean that Mr Davies was right to suggest that you do not understand English as well as you think you do and that some ot its nuances pass you by. But this, of course, is not a crime and is something which native speakers would happily forgive you for.

Whether they would forgive you for other things that you say and do, I have my doubts. But, then, it is pretty clear that you don't much care one way or another. I must say I almost admire this stubborn - though ignorant - pride. But I rather think it is time now for you to stop this ridiculous campaign to force Mr Davies to explain the concept of Northern Lusitania when, in fact, it is you and not him who is the father of this bastard.

Of course, you may feel that it's not possible for Braga - or whatever you call it - to have been the capital of northern Lusitania but I suspect others would disagree with you. As one or two of them has pointed out to you, if there was a southern Lusitania, there surely must have been a northern Lusitania, whether or not Braga was its capital. Unless we are talking of a situation similar to the Ridings of Yorkshire. (I am assuming here that your knowledge of English geography is as great as you claim your knowledge of its history to be, but do tell me if not and I will explain what I mean by this).

So, the only question remaining is - What were the capitals of southern, western and eastern Lusitania? I point this out only for completion as I for one have nil interest in the answer to this question. And I suspect I speak for a good many other readers of this blog. And, I dare say, for Mr Davies himself.

Cade (kah day). Pay attention and sit up straight. Here are some simple instructions to help you in your endeavour to answer someone's comments. Read the comment carefully and slowly. Usually a sentence begins with a word in a capital letter, a string of more words and ends with a period. That means you have to join all those words together to understand their meaning. But it also means you have to remember them for more than a second or two. Short term memory is very important because what it understands, it passes to the other long term memory. If you read three words and wait 20 seconds you should be able to repeat those same words if not you have a problem with short term memory. Could be a thyroid problem however on the next visit to your neurologist ask him to do a test on your short term memory. I do free consultations so don't hesitate to ask if you have any queries. Remember all of us on here are trying to help you succeed in life. I am sure under that hard exterior there is a gentle little boy waiting for our affection but too shy to ask! Now when you mentioned my wife and a possible dog I just knew you wanted to know more about me. Well we don't have a dog but we do have some gold fish in a little tank in the parlour. My second language is Yiddish and on my mother's side we can trace the family back to Toledo in Spain. I have opened up my profile so if you click on gluteus maximus you can see my picture. It is my favourite picture which I had taken when stationed near Würtzberg in West Germany in 1960. So you can see it was in my younger days. I will only keep the profile open for a couple of days so be sure to check it out. And also thanks to my Mexican neighbour José Luis, I can say your name correctly now.

Hey! Why do people have to keep on poking in other people’s shit? Haven’t they got enough on their own plate? For God sake!

Hyra, you stupid moron: if you like so much to teach about the English language you should be developing a career in the trade. This is not the place to teach English! Everyone knows English here! This is a place to debate things Galician! Has your brain shrunk to such a minute size?

READ MY LIPS YOU NERD: I-KNOW-EN-GLISH

Apart from that, you stupid arrogant fuck, don’t you put tags on other people’s intelligence, let them show themselves everybody, by their own sayings, where their real limits are. You must understand this: there is not superior or inferior races, superiro or inferior languages, only independent and dependent minds, regardless of their cultural background. You must understand this. Forget this Lusitania thing. I don’t need it. The old git will prod again the wasp nest, and he won’t stop till he gets his fair share. By golly he will get it. Just watch me.

get the fuck out of here and start to sort out your own home. I think there is a smell of shit there that not even a fat pig like you could tolerate. You have come to wrong place. You sort out your home, I do mine. Don’t you ever dare to even think of me. I don’t exist.

Dissapear for ever from my life and take this word with you, you stupid son of a bitch:

Cade.Oh dear you are a naughty little boy then. Cooped up in your twisted little mind. Now we can see the real cade that is hiding and no wonder you don't want us to see who you are. A racist, a bigot and a person torn apart with hatred. Keep coming back for more as we get a better picture of you each time you write something because we need to see what words like vile really mean. By the way if you are interested in learning biblical Hebrew don't hesitate to ask me. Oh! I am leaving my profile open today for you to enjoy looking at my photo.

Well I am not going to forget this Lusitania thing till it is all sorted out and I will keep coming back saying Lusitania, Lusitania, Lusitania. Mr Cade we are waiting for you to eat humble pie and admit you are wrong. Otherwise Lusitania is going to be at the back of your mind forever more. Lusitania, Lusitania. If Spike Jones was still here he could do us a lovely song about it.

So what have we learned from all the nonsense that has been written in these comments. There is a group of people who are not happy with the Gallego language spoken or written. Mr Cade has taken it upon himself to seek out and destroy anything that opposes that view. From now on you must believe the history of Galicia according to Cade - got it! Donkey Cade and Lusitania,Has now become a daily mania.On Colin's blog he posts his vile,While we sit back and have a smile.

Incredible this potpourri! Galego language, Lusitania, the army of Mr. Colin and bla bla bla.

The history of Braga and Galicia a boast for galician nationalism? from where? by who?

I can tell you some things of nationalism and boasters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fazRknfAS0E&feature=related

It has more than ten chapters, go on and learn from the nationalists!

Capital of northern Lusitania is as real as capital of northern Spain, was not there were all this stupid discussion began?

Are you for real or are only trying to discredit one man by numbers?

No more time to it. One of your readers had done a fool joke with Colon and portuguese. Well, that´s one think that I knew you are misinformed. There was a Colon in Galicia, it´s not a thought, it´s a fact. The history of Pontevedra has references of the siege of the city and his owner (Soutomaior) by spanish and bishop forces in 1476.At this time one of the "allies" of Soutomaior was a pirate, named Colon that ruled the galician coasts out of genovese and castilian ships. Was treasoned and quite ruined by a Basque in Coruña that was serving castilian interests. And about April of this same year was preparing for transport the king Afonso V of Portugal to France, seeking for help. Try this data and facts on archives, also in Simancas, f. 66 sello II. Enjoy.

Talking of Rosalia and hankies. I think that the time was called romanticism for some reason. If you can, try to compare with Becker, I prefer Rosalia a thousand times, she tries to be more on earth. By the way, you made me smile. I think one hanky is not enough in some places:

I am beginning to smell a rat here. Cade gets on to start something outrageous then spills his vile on anyone who challenges him. Lays low and ointe comes on to calm things down and defends Cade as some poor chap battling many numbers. This seems to be the pattern if you look back at the comments over time. Mr. Nasty then Mr. Nice Guy. Two working hand in glove. Both anonymous. Some have come on trying to give genuine help but end up getting a hiding.

Well, you might be right. I had formed a different theory, mainly because Ointe has been very nice to me at times. I guess he accepts that not being a Galician nationalist doesn't of itself make one a Spanish nationalist.

I decided that someone else was using Ointe's name. Especially as the English this time round was nowhere near as good as last time.

But I guess this would be true if Cade were really Ointe as this is one of his/their trademarks.

Check your own site Mike. Any smell isn´t transmited via internet. I´m not good nor bad. Colin can tell if the IPs of the people that visit his blog are or not the same as anyone that you suspect.You arised some interesting doubts. If something appears as "incredible" or "smelly" is the instant emergence of 4 or 6 defenders to attack one reader that disagree with Colin. But I can agree that they were "listeners" as I was some time.

Don´t you see nothing against 5 or 6 "men" trying to "convince" another one with insults, disdain, etc. that he must follow the same thoughts that they have? That´s a very basic problem of equity.

By the way, Cade can be more respectful with Colin. Even if Colin was making some calls to it. I really think that Colin isn´t malicious. In fact he recognize his errors as easily or more than I. What is more, his thoughts with respect to some mismanagement here in Galicia are good ones. No more no less what many "nationalists" think.

Perhaps one of his fails are to complete the themes. For example in trafic behaviour of galician drivers he stated that in Pontevedra one guy was catched by radar at 250 km/h in a 100km/h limited zone. What he failed to say is that it was a portuguese driver, not galician. There is a problem to make effective fines like these, and foreign drivers know this. In fact there is a "cannonball" competition through Spain in wich every trafic law is violated, and most of the drivers are healthy British.

ointe.After Cade's last outburst Gluteus Maximus came back and accused him of being a racist, a bigot etc. Well Cade hasn't come back since and you are sticking your neck out for him. Has he ever acknowleged your presence on this blog? You have stuck up for him three times already. Anyone else who passes a comment to or about him always gets a reply. Also you seem to be making the rules on this blog. You say it is not correct for more than one person to make comments to Cade at the same time. He doesn't have to answer them he can just ignore them but he doesn't. He comes straight back on the defensive. I don't see a ticket machine here where I have to take one and wait my turn. I am not convinced in any way about you being good or bad. You are anonymous and hidden. Several of these "attackers" are only passing through and want to see their name in lights and then they move somewhere else. If you want to defend Cade then go ahead but I wouldn't want to associate myself with such a person. That's the main reason why I believe you are a red herring.

Diverting from what Mr? What´s the theme of this discussions? I think I adressed the theme. Can you tell some other theme, subtle or not, that I missed here? The words "no more time to it" what exactly mean for you?

I´m stuck to some ethics, yes. Even the anonimous and hidden people have some of them. The show of 4 people against one is miserable, and it will be the same if it were against you , Colin or anyone else. It´s my "thought". Where I had mentioned you in my first post? Aren´t you making what you acuse me to do with Cade?

I´ve made more observations that this one about Cade & company. It´s significative that you are so "stuck" with him that you said nothing of them. Perhaps you knew it or perhaps it´s of no interest to you, but if the last is the case, you will understand also that I´m not interested in discussions about someone that´s not here to defend himself. He has enough resources to do it, tell him.

ointe- This is just an opportunity for you to practise your English which means you haven't wasted your time. I hope I am not insulting your understanding of English expressions but just to confirm "smell a rat - to start to believe that something is wrong about a situation, especially that someone is being dishonest." because I get the feeling you didn't quite catch the meaning of that expresion. Secondly a red herring is an idiom referring to a device which intends to divert the audience from the truth or an item of significance. ...I can't follow your latest reply because your English has suddenly gone to pieces and you are not following what I am pointing out to you. So this is my last reply to you. Before I close I would also point out that when you click on mike the trike and up comes a picture and some information ... there is no guarantee whatsoever that it is genuine.

Hmmm. I'm still not convinced this is the real Ointe. On the other hand, there cerainly are Cade-ish elements to the recent exchanges.

By the way, Ointe. There are various ways one can interpret a 6 to 1 situation. Or even a 1000 to 1 situation. The right one is not necessarily that everyone is ganging up on a poor soul who deserves a hearing. If what he or she says is obviously wrong (or, worse, aggressive, rude, etc.) then this is not the case.